CSIRO makes botox for plastic

Australian scientists have developed a material that can slow the ageing process in plastic.Source: AAP

AUSTRALIAN scientists say they have developed "botox for plastic".

The CSIRO says it has developed a material that can be used to dramatically slow the ageing process in plastic, and it has near-term commercial applications in the form of tougher industrial filters.

"What we've done is make use of incredible compact materials known as metallic organic frameworks - or MOFs - which have the surface area of a football field in just one gram," says lead researcher Sam Lau.

"We found that the density of the MOFs acts like a shot of botox and actually freezes the larger holey structures in place for an entire year."

Dr Lau said the technology could be used to dramatically extend the life, and improve the efficiency, of filters used widely by industry to separate out gases, liquids and solids.

The power generation sector could also adopt the technology to undertake faster, more efficient, processing of their exhaust.

"This is a much more environmentally friendly approach and of course translates into huge cost and efficiency savings for the companies who take this up," Dr Lau said.

"We're extremely excited by this discovery and hope to see it being applied commercially within one to two years."

Research describing the new material has been published in the international scientific journal Angewandte Chemie.

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